"What, you!" cried Mrs. Vernon, when she could speak.
"Yes, aunt," replied Frederic Vernon awkwardly. "I suppose you didn\'t expect to see me."
"I certainly did not." And the lady sank in a chair.
"Aren\'t you going to shake hands with me?"
He came to her side and held out his hand, and she grasped it mechanically.
"When did you come over?" she asked.
"I arrived at Liverpool yesterday, and went directly to London. At the Charing Cross Hotel I found out that you had come here."
"I see."
She said no more, but stared hard at him.
"Dear aunt, cannot you forgive me," he said, trying to put on a sad face. "I have done wrong, I know, but I--I--couldn\'t help it."
"Sit down, Frederic, and tell me why you reported to me that the lumber company was in bad shape."
"Because I was told that it was a fact."
"Who told you that?"
"Some of the men at the Pioneer Club. They knew I, or rather you, were interested in the company."
"The report is absolutely false."
"So I have since heard, and I have come to you for the purpose of setting myself straight in your eyes."
Frederic Vernon had carefully rehearsed his part, and his manner was such that his aunt almost believed him.
"You wish to set yourself straight?" she asked slowly.
"Yes, dear aunt. I know I have done wrong, but I am not the rascal you may think I am."
"I have never said you were a rascal, Frederic."
"But you turned me away, and had that young Frost take my place."
"I did that because you neglected my business. Somebody had to attend to that business."
"And then you left Chicago without letting me know where you were going."
"I had my reasons for that."
"I trust you didn\'t do it on my account, aunt. I may have been neglectful, but I--well, I never tried to do you any harm, no matter what that young Frost or others may say against me." Frederic Vernon began to cough, and sank back on a sofa as if partly exhausted.
"You are not well?" she asked, in alarm.
"I am not very sick now. But I have been quite ill," he answered, telling the falsehood without a blush.
"And you have a scar on your neck and cheek."
"I was taken sick on the street, and fell down and cut myself on a stray barrel hoop," he answered. "But I guess I\'ll pull through."
Mrs. Vernon was alarmed, for he did look sick, and she at once began to question him about what he had done for himself.
"I haven\'t done much--I was too anxious to find you and set myself straight with you," he said. "Since you sent me off I have had no peace of mind at all."
"Perhaps I was a little hasty," said Mrs. Vernon, whose heart was a tender one. "You must consult a doctor at once, and settle down where you can have it comfortable."
The conversation between the pair lasted for fully an hour, and the upshot of the matter was that Mrs. Vernon engaged a room for Frederic at the boarding house opposite to that maintained by Mrs. Cabe, the latter resort being full.
"I will pay all of your expenses," she said. Then a doctor was ordered.
The physician was a man of small practice, and Frederic Vernon fooled him easily.
"He is, indeed, quite sick," said the doctor to Mrs. Vernon. "But rest and medicine will make him pull through, I feel certain of it." Then he wrote out a prescription, and a boy was sent to procure it at the apothecary shop. When the medicine came Frederic Vernon pretended to take it, but not a mouthful of it did he ever swallow.
"You\'ll not catch me swallowing any such dose," he said to himself, when he was alone, and poured the medicine out of the window.
He was highly elated over his success in fooling his aunt, and when left to himself felt like dancing a jig.
"I\'ll work my cards all right enough," he thought. "My next move must be to get rid of young Frost, and when my aunt takes me back I\'ll make sure that I am not thrown aside again."
Of course Robert was astonished to hear of Frederic Vernon\'s arrival. He listened gravely to what Mrs. Vernon had to tell him.
"It\'s too bad if he is sick, Mrs. Vernon," he said. "But take my advice and be careful how you trust him."
"I will be careful, R............